Shaft mounting



July l1, 1944- L.. F. .BEACH y SHAFT MOUNTING Filed Jan. 2a, 194slNvENToR y IENNOX F. BEACH MORNEY i c; Another feature of -the inventionthe provided adiustable means for engaging and compressing the strut,the same being operative toincrease the nonnal axial spacingvbetween the.Thisxinventon lrrelates g'ezne-r-ally` to mountings for shaftsv andparticu1ar1y is concer ned with a thermallycompensated mounting forgyrorotors.

A shaft or rotor mounted in. accordancewith the teaching of 1theipresent 'invention remains equal'- 1 ly free under allg normaltemperature. conditions.

The primary objectof-the inventionis to pro- .videamounting forprese nthigh speed gyrorotors; intheir-bearing frames that is eiective a topreventbinding-or looseness between the shaft --supportingg-the-rotoxpand gitsfbearings d ue to v iandf bearing framev relativetoene-another, during wide temperature changes, such" asjoccur in Y theairspungyroscopicattitude and navigational apparatus for airplanes.

fria] having a customary horizontal trunnions l4. While the inventionis'illustratively depicted in connection A,withf a Vgyrorotm,v itfwillbe understood that the same is not be considredas limited thereto.

The bearing" members .of the improved mountfing are situated'incoa-Xialrelation on the respec- 10, outer b allbearing race li; laand ballbeardifferential expansion'or contractionofthe shaft tive sidesf of thef rame These axially spaced members each inc'zl'u'deahousirig I5, l5', afixed ings I1, lll 'Both bearing membersare `made axially adjustable;vthisinstance, th housings A furtherfobjectfof'the invention is toprovide y a mountingv of 'this .character inv whichthe axial vspacingbetweenthe bearings in the frame or case V:is initiallyfincreasedjbeyondthat which would occur at thermaximum temperature range apt to Y vbe,enc minteredgA byexpanding the frame or; case and maintainiriigitso.v 1. l

- One1of 1the features of the inventionresides in f provision of.aecpmpression strut `as one ofthe parts of ,the shaft i mounting.

consists in bearing parts ofi-the mounting.. f

Other objects, f eatures and structural vdetails y of the inventionfwi11 be,apparent from the following descriptiomwhenreadin relation tothe accompanying c lrawing,y lwherein:

Fig. 1 is a detail vp-tn,ViewV ypartly l5, 'l5 f'v beingexteriorlyfscrew threaded'as noted at I8,- l' andrfittineinrODDSitelydisposed cov.axialtapped openingsin the respective sides- I3 providedVVtdubricate' tlie" spaced` bearings.V The ff frame may be consideredto beany bearing holding piece which will resistively permitan increase l iin the normal spacing betweenthe bearings.

The gyrorotor supported fon a shaft 20 to Y which it,'issuitab ly`xed.Buckets 2l are employed in thisV instance on the peripheral surface of'the rotor to receive the air directed upon the same ,fx-oma nozzle 22.The 'air impinging upon the buckets. 2| c0nsequently provides'the motive,Y power `necessary to spin the@ illustrated well known type. ofigyrorotor; In 'accordance with .30'

isltubular in form. YThe vaxial opening in the vshaft is,` indicated at20'. TA ycompression` strut Vthe t;eachi 1 igfof A the presentinvention, shaft 20 "23 is located in the axial opening within thepurposes of illustrationinthe frame-and gyrorotor .of adirectionaltypeofgyroscopefand i Fg. 2 is adetail elevational `view,pa rtly insection,showing a modified form ofthe invention .Y adapted.foriisezinilierotorgbearingcase and ssin section, f .showingone form of mvinventionembodied for shaft,` the same being ,situated at vthe'v axis of the`shaft `and beingxedly" mounted within the shaft, ashereinafterfmore.particularly described. 'I'he respective Qndsi theaxialopen'shaft 2U are journaledinfthe spacedbearing members l5 andlvIAs shown vin Fig.` 1, the journal forming ends of the shaft'areconically shaped. The strut 23 and 's h'ait 20 arepxfeferably made ofthe same `mat eri al, such a hlghgrade steel of a low `heat c'oeillcient'of exiniirisionA relative to that of thefranie lo. nochstrut and shaft are also 4s constructed to have substantially the samelengt'h,` and being of the samematerial and thererectangularflincross-section, with` the respective fore havingfthe same c oeflicient ofexpansion, ex-

`jpand or. contract equallyfwhen subjected to a Vbee'xpandedor assume aposition such asshown by the dottedA lines in Fig. f1 without bending ordeforming the` ends ofthe frame.= Frame.|0 is preferably constructed 'of.a light-aluminum alloy material for weight saving reasons, this mateuin this instance is centrally recessed.; SuchV asV Achange in 1;iierrmiiconditions effecting either re'- su1t. Means arealsoprovided'for 'compressively' engaging'the' opposite `endsof Athe strut23 which means, as shown in Fig; 1, are provided in` the formofadjustable pins 2l. 24' which are mounted upon the frame Ill, andparticularly in the respective bearing housings I5, l5'. The pins 24,24' are screw threaded and engage threaded openings in the respectivehousings, the same being coaxial with the strut 23 and shaft 20.l Thethreaded connection of the means in the frame makes the same adjustablewith respect to the strut.l 'I'he conically pointed, inwardly disposedends of the pins 24, 24 are adapted to compressively engage the recessedends of the strut to effectively expand the frame in the directionindicated by the arrows in Fig. 1 and permit the desired adjustment ofthe axial spacing of the bearing members. I/

In setting the parts of the temperature compensating mounting,thebearing housings II. l5', in this instance, are screwed inwardlyuntil the frame is forced slightly open. This lightly preloads thebearings and locks theA shaft 20. The housings are individually andjointly manipulated in this manner untilthe shaft and rotor thereon arein a central position within the frame. The adjustable means or pins 24,24' which were lightly turned down on the strut 23 previous to the firstoperation are then further adjusted by moving the same in a direction tocompress the strut. The pins 24, 24' are tightened until the preload onthe bearings is taken up by the strut. Effectively this is accomplishedby V"further expansion of the frame I0 in the direction of the arrows inFig. l. The pins 24, 24 have then been turned to effectively increasethe axial distance between the respective ends of the strut and theframe to thereby control the spacing of the bearing members.

After proper setting of the -mounting at a moderate temperature, if thesame is then subjected to colder temperature conditions, the stress inthe frame, which then tends to contract more than the shaft and strut,is resisted by the adjusting means and strut. In such event, thepressure between these parts increases and the frame is prevented fromcontracting sufficiently to become bound to the 1 rotor shaft, orincrease the bearing load. Under opposite temperature conditions, theframe expands to a greater extent than the shaft and strut. This tendsto relieve the pressure between the adjustable means and strut and doesnot effect the spacing between the respective bearing members. It willbe understood that the initial pressure set between the strut andadjustable means is suilicient to remain positive at all times.

AAfter proper adjustment of the mounting is accomplished the lock nuts25, 25 are positioned on the pins 24, 24', the'same not disturbing thethe base of the case 3l, as indicated at 32. The

other housing, as indicated at 33, is similar to either one of the typepreviously described. The adjustable pin 34 has an inwardly disposedcentral recess in this instance that-receives the top end of the strut23'. The upwardly extending portion of the `pin 34 may be employed tohold the balancing weights 35 for the rotor bearing case. The bearinghousing 32 in case 3| is further provided with a jewel post 38 thatreceives the lower end of the strut 23'. This construction with the pin34 provides the axially adjustable means for compressively engaging thestrut in the manner heretofore described.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and manyapparently widely different embodiments of this invention coluld be madewithout departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all mattercontained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawingshall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

What is' claimed is: 1

1. A temperature compensated mounting for an 4axially open shaftincluding a pair of axially spaced, relatively movable bearing membersin which the ends of lthe shaft are jour-v nalled, a compression strutcoaxial with said shaft, and means for engaging the ends of the strut toeffectively move the bearing members relative to one another axially toadjustably increase the spacing thereof.

2. A mounting for gyrorotors including a frame, a pair of axially spacedbearing members mounted on said frame, a hollow rotor shaft having endsthat journal in said spaced bearing members, an axially positioned strutextending through but spaced from said shaft, and means mounted on saidframe for compressively engaging the respectiveends of Asaid strut tomaintain the frame elastically spread, whereby contraction of the frameand binding of the bearings on said shaft due to intense cold isprevented.

3. A mounting for gyrorotors including a rotor Icase havingl al pair ofaxially spaced bearing members, a tubular rotor shaft having ends thatjournal in said spaced bearing members, a compression strut extendingaxially through the shaft, and adjustable compressing means on saidframe for engaging the ends of said. strut to permanently increase theaxial distance between the respective ends of the strut and the frameand thereby maintain proper spacing of the bearing members during widetemperature changes,

4. A temperature compensated gyrorotor mounting including a case, a.pair of axially spaced bearing members fixed to said.case, a

hollow rotor shaft having ends journalling in said spaced bearingmembers, a compression strut, of substantially the same length as theshaft, and extending therethrough, and axially adjustable means on saidcase coaxial with said strut for compressively engaging the strut at therespective ends thereof.

5. A gyrorotor mounting of the character claimed in claim 4, in whichthe engaged ends of said strut are centrally recessedl 6.- A gyrorotormounting of the character claimed in claim 4, in which the engaged endsof said strut are tapered.

7. A temperature compensated gyrorotor mounting including a frame, twocoaxial, axially adjustable, spaced bearing members mounted on saidframe, an axially open rotor shaft hav- `ing ends journalling in saidspaced bearing members, a compression strutlocated ithe axial opening ofthe shaft, and axially adjustable means on said frame coaxial with saidstrut for compressively engaging the strut at the respective endsthereof to effectively expand the frame in which the ends of the .shaftare journaled,'

and control the axial spacing between the bearing members. y

` 8. A gyrorotor mounting of the character claimed in claim 7, in whichthe axially adjustable means are a pair of; screw threaded pins. 9. Atemperature compensated gyrorotor mounting including a case, two axiallyspaced bearing members mounted on -said case, one of which is xed andthe other of which is axially adjustable, an axially open roto/r shafthaving ends journalling in said spaced bearing members, a compressionstrut situated at the axis. of the shaft, and axially adjustable meanson said case coaxial with said strut for compres- .sively engaging thestrut at the respective ends thereof to effectively expand the case andcontrol the axial spacing between the bearing members.

10. A gyrorotor mounting of the character claimed in claim 9, in whichthe axially adjustable means is a screw threaded pin and a jewel postfixedly mounted with respect to the case that receives one end of thestrut.

11. A temperature compensated mounting for an axially open shaftincluding a pair of axially,spaced,-. relatively movable bearing membersa compression strut coaxial with said shaft, and means for engaging. theends of theystrut to effectively spread the bearingmembers relative toone another axially to permanently maintain the normal spacing thereof.

12. Gyrorotor mounting of the character claimed in claim 4, in whichsaid rotor shaft and strut have the same coefficient of expansion.

13. A temperature compensated mounting for a hollow rotor shaftcomprising a supporting frame, a pair of axially spaced bearing mem-

